NEWS OF THE DAY
From Around the World
1 Palestinian shot: The Israeli military says troops shot to death a Palestinian gunman who had attempted to attack soldiers near an army checkpoint in the occupied West Bank. The military said the Palestinian gunman opened fire at a military post south of the city of Nablus, and troops returned fire. The army said no troops were wounded. Israel has seen a series of shootings, stabbings and carramming attacks in recent years, mostly carried out by lone attackers with no apparent links to armed groups. Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups have praised the attacks but have not claimed them. Palestinian and Israeli rights groups have accused Israel of using excessive force in some instances, and of killing some suspected attackers who could have been apprehended.
2 Migrant death: Spanish emergency services said one migrant died on a boat carrying around 70 others that was intercepted Wednesday off Tenerife in the Canary Islands. Five others were hospitalized after the boat docked at the Los Cristianos port, the Canary Islands emergency service said. The service said all 72 migrants were from subSaharan Africa. Spain’s news agency Efe said there were about 10 minors aboard and that the migrants told rescuer workers they had been at sea for more than a week. The Spanish government says more than 8,000 migrants have arrived this year at the sevenisland archipelago located more than 60 miles off the northwest African coast.
3 Giant iceberg: A giant iceberg the size of the U. S. state of Delaware is floating toward the subAntarctic island of South Georgia, raising fears it could indirectly endanger young wildlife. The British Antarctic Survey said Wednesday it is concerned the iceberg may run aground near the island, preventing landbased marine predators from reaching food supplies and returning to their offspring. The giant iceberg, named A68, has been floating north since it broke off from the Larsen C ice shelf in 2017. South Georgia, located in the southern Atlantic Ocean, is a British overseas territory.
4 Vatican oversight: Pope Francis on Wednesday tightened oversight on creating new religious orders to exert more Vatican control over the process and prevent charlatans from duping the faithful. The new law was approved as the Vatican in recent years has cracked down on the founders of some religious orders and lay institutes after they were found to have been religious frauds who sexually or spiritually abused their members. Usually, religious orders begin as small “institutes of consecrated life” that are approved by a local bishop to operate in his diocese. Over time, if they attract more members, they can apply to the Vatican to get pontifical recognition, like the Jesuits or Missionaries of Charity. The new law requires written Vatican approval before a bishop can approve a new order.
5 Syria conflict: The Syrian government on Wednesday shelled the last rebel enclave in the country’s northwest, killing at least seven people, including four children, rescuers and activists reported. The attack targeted the city of Idlib and two towns to the north and south. A child was killed when a shell landed near a weekly market in Idlib, according to the Syrian Civil Defense, a volunteer rescue team also known as the White Helmets, and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Great Britainbased war monitor. The shelling in Idlib and surrounding areas wounded 17, according to Ahmed Sheikho, a spokesman for the White Helmets group. The northwestern rebelheld enclave is home to more than 3 million people and remains the last area in opposition hands.